How Poor was Poor.

 There were times in history when urine was used to tan animal skins. AND, when a whole family would pee in one pot and the contents sold to a local Tannery.

These were poor families. Once a day they would take the pot and sell the urine to live on the money.  

These people were said to be, “piss poor.”  And worse than that, there were families that could not afford a pot, there for “didn’t have a pot to piss in”.